


RAIN

by Mystionic



Category: Metal Slug (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-05-28 09:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15046376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystionic/pseuds/Mystionic
Summary: Arriving to an abandon base, Marco, Tarma, Eri, and Fio discovers blueprints to a project that was kept hidden. Upon closer inspection, they realize that androids were built in the midst of the war. Worst yet they have escaped and are now separated, the team sets out to recover the lost machines before the Rebels do.





	1. Life

A man has created life within machines, the ability to think and feel their own way. This project, to him, was meant to see how robots evolve, how they see the world, and how they feel. Little did he know, he was going to change the course of the war. Something that has never been seen before...

_Deep in an unknown location, a small abandon base sits near the edge of the forest. There a young man just finished putting the calculated dates and places the capsules on lockdown. He can only smile at his four creations, it took 11 years of blood, sweat and hard work to finish them all. He couldn't wait to greet them as their father! Well, first he'll take them home before doing all of that and teach them what's going on. But for now, he'll have to wait until April for them to wake that may seem like a long time but for him, it's no big deal. He can hide out before going back home… and to the Regular HQ where he works._

_Due to his medical condition he is suspended until May, he doesn't mind as he had a seizure in the middle of the battlefield, which caused his teammates to retreat and get him back to the medical ward, failing the mission in the possess. Boy that was embarrassing situation. He shakes his head before leaving the capsules in the lab, but not before he turns to smile at the capsules._

_"Just you wait guys." The man said softly before closing the room. He smiles again as he approached his office and opened the door. In his office is filled with all sorts papers, blueprints, and computers, he sighs as he enters in._

_"What to do now?" he flops on the chair, he fixes his shaggy brown hair. The man decided to check his computer again specifically one of his files. He edits the document, finally concluding it. Before he presses save, the computer suddenly freezes, the man sighs before he tries to turn it off. The screen goes static causing the man to groan in annoyance, he tries to turn it off again. No good, the static is still there, the man touches the power button. Finally, the computer turns off, the man was about to go before the computer turns on again. He turns and eyes at the screen, what is it now?_

_**"Major Aran."**  A familiar voice came on screen, the man jumps up in fright. A black silhouette appears beside two hulking figures in a dimly lit room. How the hell did he gain access to his computer!? The male growled loudly at the figure who finally reveals itself. General Mordan, the man who caused the whole rebellion._

_**"Surprise to see me, Derek?"**  Morden smirks  **"You're computer was easily hackable. You need to watch it next time, heh."**_

_Derek yells in frustration, who would've thought, he forgot to put the anti-hacking software the SECOND he finished building them. Now Mordan is in his screen, mocking him._

_"What the hell do you WANT!?" the man barked at the screen, banging his fists against the table. Ah yes, there's the rage Morden enjoys looking at._

_**"Simple, whatever you're building is marvelous. I think it will come in handy for my well being, don't you agree?"**  The Devil chuckles as Derek's eyes widen in fear.  **"You have 30 hours to surrender the project to me or else."**_

_Mordan laughs maniacally, the computer suddenly glitches and shuts down._

_Derek only glares at the screen before he gets up and starts moving the capsules in another room. He'd never used his emergency office before, as it was supposed to be used just in case an army invades his base, this is the only room that he can hide them away. Next, he moves most of the blueprints in the same room, including the final blueprints and information on why he build them in the first place, he quickly punches the code in. The door seals, giving it an illusion that it's just a plain wall. After that's over and done with, Derek starts to burn the other papers, including his diary, not wanting the rebels to use the data._

_The man gathers his guns, when he first arrived at this base he noticed that there were guns hidden in a bunker. Sure enough, Derek kept those there just in case he ever needed them. He sets his traps outside, that way there'll be fewer Rebel soldiers when the event happens. For the remainder of the day, Derek continues to prepare for the Rebels. He would have called for help, but knowing the Regular officers, they'll dismiss his distress as they think he wants to end his suspension early._

* * *

_It's already night, Derek just finished the last of his tasks. All the possess papers and his diary has been burnt, all the traps have been set, and the guns have been chosen for the job. Derek goes back in the room, just in case the capsules are still there. There the capsules lay side by side and in them, his creations sleep peacefully. All that hard work finally paid off, but now they'll have to survive on their own, or until the Regulars find them and bring them back to base. Hopefully the latter happens Derek thought as he approached a capsule, containing the eldest creation._

_"I'm sorry guys…" Derek touches the first capsule, looking at it sadly. "I won't be here to see you." With that he closes the room one more time, knowing that this will be the last he'll see them._


	2. Hidden Office

**[There was an unusual activity in a forest about four months ago, not only that, but multiple attacks were recorded on our side and the Rebels. Go investigate the area and find out what's causing all of this!]**

With that order in place, Marco and the others get on the helicopter and moves toward the location. Not much happened in the past few months because the Rebels are silent this time, it makes Marco wonder if Mordan is planning something big like usual. Tarma is busy looking at the coordinates with Eri while Fio is taking a nap, using Marco's leg as a pillow. Hopefully, this isn't another dud like last time when they received a so-called emergency mission. Turns out it was a prank call set up by a couple of trainees, of course, they got punished for misusing the phone. Marco started to doze off when Tarma shakes him. He gets up, waking Fio in the process. The trio looks out the window as the pilot calls for them. Tarma is the first to speak since the helicopter ride.

"Is this the place?" the pilot nods, sure enough, a sizeable base comes into view, it's damage from the looks of it. The vehicle hovers over the damaged base, allowing the four to parachute in. As they get closer to the ground, they see a few skeletons below.

 _Corpses?_  Marco thought as he touched the ground  _Who does it belong to?_  Tarma, Eri, and Fio land thinking the same thing. Marco got his answer as he inspects closer. The Rebels no less. They look around, the base is littered with numerous bodies of the Rebel infantry. Some are decomposing, giving off a horrible smell which made Fio gag.

"Oh dear!" She and Eri cover their nose. "Somebody must have gone crazy!"

"No kidding." Tarma kicks a body over, the poor soldier is riddled with bullet holes.

"Whoever was here give them one hell of a fight." Marco nods in agreement. The four approaches the door, or where the door was supposed to be. The chilly air touches their skin, making the team shudder as they go in. More bodies pop up but fewer in numbers, splattered on the walls is dried blood and open holes. Eri gazes at the bodies some were shot but the majority were stabbed as if the person was desperate to keep themselves safe. They reach the middle of the base; four hallways are connected to where they currently stand. Marco signals for the team to split since there are numerous rooms within the building. Plus, it'll take less time to find someone…or something within this building, because judging from all the numerous corpses, someone was is in here working.

Fio walks down the west hall, the gun is drawn just in case someone ambushes her. So far, no doors appeared in the hall, something about this empty hall made Fio shiver. It didn't help that the base is cold as the winter nights, well at least it's not hot like it was outside. Fio continues to go down until she sees an open door, the young woman tiptoes to the door before opening it. Judging from the space and the open fridge, she's in the kitchen. She shines her flashlight on the table near the door, a few rats and roaches scurry away from the bright light.

"EW!" Fio yelped. As she turned something caught her eye, she approaches the table, there a bowl and crumbs comes to her point of view. Looks like someone was eating here. She thought as another shape caught her eye. Fio moves the flashlight over and sees pot, pans, and utensils down the sink. Nothing caught her interest as she just browsed around the deserted kitchen, In the drive, the food is either moldy or expired. Nothing is in the cabinets either, just more roaches and expired food.

 **"Did you find anything?"**  Eri's voice came from the talkie.

"If roaches and rats count than no." Fio replied looking at the pots and pans. She picks up one of the pans, which has a huge dent on the side. It's like this person used to pan to, not just the guns and a knife. Did the rebels attack when the person was eating?

 **"Come to the east hall, I found something."**  Fio sighs as she turns and runs to Eri's location.

Eri was exploring the east hall, she looked through numerous doors, but most are empty. Except for one room, it had ashes right in the middle of it. That was enough evidence for Eri to radio Fio. A few minutes later Fio arrives.

"Look at this." The younger woman leads her in and sure enough, Fio sees the ashes along with the large burn mark on the floor. "Looks like somebody was trying to get rid of evidence." Eri said picking up a scrap, indeed the scrap was previously a piece of paper. Eri hands it to Fio, who puts it in her napkin and folds in neatly.

"What do you think it was?" Fio asked as Eri scrapes the burn mark. "Papers…maybe someone's diary, stuff that's easy to burn. So, you know, the rebels won't get their hands on classified information?" With that Eri stands up and heads out the door, Fio following close behind.

"We need to find Marco and Tarma."

* * *

Marco was on his side of the hallway until Tarma called him through the talkie. That's when he immediately ran to find his best friend, sure enough there he is, leaning against the wall. The Japanese man knocks on the wall, it gives off a hollow noise like it's empty. Marco shuffles closer to the odd-looking wall touching it, there must be an electronic lock somewhere. Marco grunts as he feels something touch his side.

"Knock it off Tarma…" Marco said as he slaps his hand away.

Tarma chuckles moving away from his best friend. Marco brushes his fingers around a suspicious area and presses it, the keypad reveals itself.

"Well?"

"Radio Eri and Fio." Tarma removes his talkie to radio the girls.

Marco kneels as he removes his backpack, pulling out his mini silver laptop. The blonde hooks four cables to the keypad and starts typing up his virus, he uploads it. Soon the girls arrive and Judging from what Marco is doing they guess that he's found something.

Fio hands Tarma her napkin, he unfolds it and raises an eyebrow. There the scrap lays, tucked for safe keeping in case it ever flies away from them.

"What's this?"

"A piece of paper I found" Eri explained "Or what's left of it, somebody burned a diary or classified information. I guess the rebels stormed this base because somebody had something in here."

Tarma inspects the scrap closer, yup it's burnt. He sees a letter written on the paper, but he can only make out the word R, whatever that means.

Fio gazes at the wall as she knocks on it, there's that hollow noise again. She puts her ear against it to hear any other noises.

"The wall is fake." Marco answered as he types away "With this, we should gain accesses to what's inside."

"Ah yes," Eri started "One of those doors." The woman smirks as she places her hands on her hips.

Without hesitation, Marco quickly hacks into the keypad which loads the numbers on his laptop. Tarma glances at the screen for a moment, he approached the keypad and punches the numbers in. The wall suddenly clicks and moves, revealing the small office inside.


	3. Androids

The team glances at each other, they stroll in with their guns drawn. The office is pitch black they can't see anything, not even their flashlights can cover the whole room. Marco signals to Fio to find a switch, using her hands she skims through the wall for the switch. Sure, enough her fingers touch the object and she flicks it, the light blinks twice before it fully turns on. They start to survey the area, other then a desk not much is here.

Tarma goes further inside to see if anything else is in the office.

"Hm, just as I thought. Nothing." Marco sighed.

"Uh, Major? You might want to check this out." Tarma's voice came from the deeper part of the office.

Marco approaches the area where Tarma is standing, there he sees four silver capsules laying side by side. Strangely, instead of being closed the objects are wide open. As if whatever was in there escaped. Marco approaches the four capsules, examining them up close. The metal is cold to the touch but inside, specifically in the middle, the center is oddly warm.

Eri and Fio turns to the desk near the door. There they see four blueprints, a computer and a note on top.

"Wow," Eri started to say, "This person went out of their way to hide all of this stuff." she looks through the papers, picking up the white folded paper.

Fio glances at one of the blueprints with white writing on it. She removes it from the pile and takes a quick glance at it. It didn't take long as Fio looks at it with a surprised expression. Without hesitation, she approaches Marco and taps on his shoulder.

"Uh…Major?"

Marco turns to Fio, she's gripping the blueprint in her tiny hands. "You might want to look at this." She hands it over to the blonde, who takes it and opens it wide.

The blueprint contains a figure standing in the center and on the right side, contains the machinery inside. On the side, Marco glances at a cylinder, which has an odd shape. Below it, two pairs of soles that have two large circles on each end. As Marco looks closer at the blueprint, Tarma glances at the desk along with the girls, three more blueprints show different figures and the extra information on the sides. The only thing similar is the heart like object within the center of the figure. According to the small note, this is a CORE, it gives the figure the ability to live and hold its feelings.

"Either this is a coincidence or old man Amadeus was building brainless bots in here."

Marco shakes his head, doubtful of Tarma's accusation. If Amadeus was truly here why would he hide this base? Wouldn't the instiga be here? Where are the dead Amadeus soldiers? Or they weren't here at all. Amadeus is well known for creating robots and viruses, but never something like this. That's when it hits him, Amadeus would NEVER build anything with a hint of being sentient! Even if he did, he'll make sure that the robot stays under his control.

"No." Marco gets back up "Someone else was here."

He heads back to the four open capsules, looking at the blueprint and back at the capsules. Everything makes sense now! The hidden base within the forest, another office hidden, and the blueprints.

"It's not a coincidence. I now know what the person was building in here." He shows the one he's holding in his hands. "It's too complicated to build a robot like this, and if anything, this person is giving THIS machine the ability to think. We're not dealing with four mindless robots, we're dealing with four androids."

The team looks at each other in shock, androids of all things? That's unheard of! There's little to no recourses to build them! The team was quiet for a good minute before Tarma sighs.

"This is the biggest discovery in history." The Japanese man looks at the blueprint "No wonder why Morden and his goons were here. Four highly advanced robots with no limits on their behavior? I can't image the unlimited potential they have."

Marco nods in agreement, now they know what was in here.

"Is there anything important on the table? Eri approaches Marco and hands him a piece of paper. The handwriting is in Round hand cursive written on print paper. Marco could have sworn he knows someone who writes like this, he can't remember the name of the person.

Tarma notices Marco spacing out, the man jabs his friend's ribs. "Well, what are you waiting for Major?"

Marco sighs as begins to read-

_To anyone who finds this,_

_I may not be alive when you find the note, but I guarantee that my robots may not be here when you arrive. The project, R.A.I.N, is meant to see how robots evolve, how they see the world, and how they feel. But now I cannot see them enter the world thanks to that hellspawn Mordan, he got someone to hack into my systems. If the androids are not there, retrieve them immediately, I do not want them causing trouble. If you do find them, try to understand that these four are not tools. I expect them to be treated the way you treat a human._

_Sincerely,_

_D.H.A_

Marco can only stare at the paper, this answers several questions he had rolling in his brain. The only problem now is that they don't have any leads on the robots, who knows where they are!? "Did you find anything else on that desk?" Marco asked the two girls.

"Only a computer." Fio said as she walks back to the desk.

Marco gives a small 'hmph', cracking his knuckles. Without saying a word, he opens the computer and turns it on, the keyboard lights up with many distinct colors. Grabbing his own flash drive from his bag and plugging it in, Marco connects it to the now loading computer screen. With a few taps and embedding a code, it only took a few seconds to gain full access to its secrets.

"Bingo!"

The screen shows different colored dots, light orange, light blue, grey, and navy blue. Above the dots are the coordinates to their location, thank god for the computer and it's easy to access password. Before Marco can get to work, the dots begin to flash as a huge WARNING pops up, the androids are detected. Oddly enough two of the dots is a darker red than the other two.

"Oh boy," Tarma started "That can't be good."

Hovering the mouse over the dot, Marco sees a wall of text basically saying that the Android is attacking an area and same goes for the second dot. The latter, however, explains that the last two androids are experiencing high levels of distress.

 _So, two of them are causing trouble, two are in trouble_ Marco thought before speaking "We need to retrieve them before Morden." He types away "God help us if the robots don't encounter them first, Eri pack the blueprints and the note. We might need them later."

Eri nods and stuffs the blueprints in Tarma's bag (much to his dismay) and she pockets the note.

"Which one is closer?" Tarma asked Marco. Marco types on the computer again, on it three dots disappear, the light blue dot remains. Judging from the coordinates...

"Sand Kingdom."


	4. Iria

After leaving the base, Marco had the regulars transport them via helicopter to the Sand Kingdom, then they must hitch a ride on the truck. It would have been difficult since the team has no idea where the android is, but according to the regular army, there was an attack at the rebel base. The officials have no idea who caused it, one thing is certain: the drone has captured images of the attack that took place that night. The Major has the drivers deliver them to the rebel base, so they can find clues. One of the members gave the pictures to the driver, who passes it to Tarma.

"Major look at this!" Marco turns to Tarma who is carrying the recorded photos. "This came from the drone yesterday!"

Marco takes the photos from his best friend; one photo shows the rebel base on fire and a few rebels running away. Although the second photo is blurry Marco sees what appears to be vehicles destroyed or riddled with holes. The last few photos contain a shadowy figure fighting a group of rebels, it's arms are locked on two of them. Marco narrows his eyes he knows it's an android, but which one? He'll have to ask Tarma for the blueprints once they get to the Rebel truck comes to a halt prompting Marco to look up, it's doors open allowing the team to exit. What they saw was unbelievable, the rebel base is decimated, bullet holes, dead bodies, destroyed vehicles lay all over the camp.

"Jeez, what kinda android did this!?" Tarma kicks a body away, "It's like it just wants to cause destruction!"

Marco shakes his head, it probably attacked in self-defense. With the Rebel army being here, the android must have seen them and attacked. After paroling around the base some more they find one tent intact, Marco peeks and goes in. There's only one computer sitting near a sword, assuming that's the main one used for security he moves towards it. Cracking his knuckles, he starts working his magic, hoping that there's anything important that he can get. Specifically, which android attacked the base.

Security cameras didn't show anything important, other then troops running for their lives and things are being set ablaze. One camera, however, reveals a black shadow strangling a rebel and then it seemingly disappears in the next shot. Marco was about to call his teammates until his radio went off.

 **"Marco? Come outside I see someone!"**  Marco runs outside he sees his teammates pointing their guns at a silhouette coming into view. A familiar tall figure approaches the four, his dark hair swaying with each step. The Rebel emblem giving his identity away.

Captain Gedeon Anastas, one of the most important commanders of the Rebel army, with numerous tanks at his command has practically unstoppable. "If it isn't the hounds of the Regular army," the Greek man started "I'd figure you'd be here for the same reason~"

Marco frowns, it's no surprise that Gedeon is here since he's able to handle operations like this. "Morden sent you, here didn't he?"

The Greek man nods, now he knows why the base was set up.

"We're getting the android first Gedeon." He said slowly approaching the captain with a scowl. Tarma, Fio, and Eri follows suit walking next to their leader. Gedeon eyes at the four approaching him.

"Sorry hounds" Gedeon smirks "you won't be able to get in my way." With a wave of his hand, numerous rebel soldiers, vehicles and some aircraft pop from their hiding places. The team draws their heavy guns, ready to fight them off.

"Fufufu forget it! Even if you will be able to, you still won't succeed!" Gedeon glares, snapping his fingers the Di-Cokka rolls up. "Fire!" Gedeon points to the surrounded members, the Di-Cokka didn't move.

"…? I said FIRE!" Again Di-Cokka didn't move. Gedeon simply walks up to the Di-Cokka and kicks it, snarling at the idiot inside.

Without warning the Di-Cokka opens fire on not only the squad but the rebel troops. The troops drop like flies as they are shot or ran over by the huge tank. Meanwhile the team ducks behind the sandbags, they hear ear-piercing shrieks and numerous vehicles exploding under its wrath. The team hears Gedeon's shouting followed by one vehicle driving off, the team hears guns roaring and more screaming. Tarma only got a swift glance at the battle, he shakes his head, it wasn't looking so good. Marco tried to get a peek at himself, a stray bullet nearly hits his head causing him to duck down again.

The screaming dies down along with the firing vehicles, Marco signals Eri to look. She nods poking her head out to look at the carnage, dead bodies and destroyed vehicles covered the ground. It didn't help that the once golden color is stained in all shades of red. In the middle of it all, the Di-Cokka trembles violently looks like it's about to attack again. The rest pokes their head out drawing their guns, perhaps if they can sneak behind it…

No luck, the Di-Cokka snaps in their direction. The tank roars in an animalistic manner and hurls itself to the team at full speed, it became clear that it's ready to kill them.

"MOVE!" Marco and the team dives out of the way, Di-Cokka takes a sharp U-turn and barrels to the team again. In a blur the tank starts to shift, with its wheels still intact its bulk rearranges rapidly, transforming into the speedy Formor. With a violent smack, the vehicle used its autocannon to hit Tarma's side, making him scream in pain. Marco fires his Heavy Machine gun which bounces off its bulk, Fio tries to fire her Rocket Launcher only to be blasted. She collides with Eri, who is about to shoot her Laser Gun, missed the opportunity for an opening! Growling, Eri retaliates by hurling a grenade near its tracks, upon impact it recoils!

With a nod, they throw their explosives on it, each time a grenade hits the Formor it recoils and forms a heavy dent. As Fio throws another grenade, the tank fires it's main cannon at it. The combined explosion causes a huge cloud of black smoke to enclose the group. Realizing it's no use, the Formor speeds away, not wanting to get captured or damaged by them. As the smoke clears the team they see it's nowhere to be found, they only thing left is the trail tracks it left behind.

"Where did it go…?" Fio asked glancing at the now empty spot.

Tarma groans in pain as struggling to get up, causing Eri to run over and give him a helping hand.

Concerned about its hasty retreat, Marco shakes his head. One thing's for certain…that's not an ordinary tank. "Tarma? Can you lend me a blueprint?" The sub commander sighs and reaches for his bag.

"Eri can you and Fio track where it went? I don't want this tank getting away."

As Eri figures out which direction it went, Marco looks over the first two blueprints, there must be a clue. There wasn't much about these two that matched what they encountered, so he asks Tarma to pull out the other ones. Marco analyzes the third one, one sentence caught his eye:

_This Android shifts into multiple vehicles via copy chip, she's ten times more powerful than the original vehicle that she scanned. She operates on her own without requiring assistance._

"Looks like we found our culprit." Marco shows Tarma the blueprint, the Android on it is rather feminine and tall. Perhaps the most shocking is that she doesn't have any weapons like the other three. A drawing of a chip lays right next to the robot along with the information Marco just read. Judging by her pose and actions she's timid and the only thing she knows how to do is attack. Which is far too dangerous for someone to have that attitude in the middle of a war.

"How are we going to get her?" Tarma asked, even if they even try to talk to her she'll just try and kill them again.

"Well…" Marco trails off as he looks at best friend. Tarma's eyes immediately bug out of his head.

"…That's a terrible idea."

"It's the only one we have."

As Eri and Fio came back from tracking the tank down, Marco informs them of his plan to get the robot to their side: Letting one of them negotiate with her instead of all of them going at once.

Tarma willfully volunteers and heads off to meet the android, Eri tells him to go North then turn East. Apparently, she kept going with no signs of turning anywhere else as far as she knows. It would've been nice if he'd take his motorcycle, but he must walk. Tarma walks into the distance, occasionally, he would glance at the tracks to see if he's on the right path. It takes a while for him to get there, who knows where this android Is hiding? She's probably waiting to ambush the young man…or She's probably afraid of him and she doesn't want to be found. A shadowy figure appears before the young man, Tarma starts to walk slowly not wanting to scare her.

Sure enough, he spots her, it's like she's dormant now. It didn't help that she's "looking" directly at him with her engine still running.  _There she is_  he thought s _he's the Di-Cokka again._  "Major I found her," Tarma said over his talkie.

 **"Approach her with caution and if she attacks is again…run."**  Tarma nods as he approaches the large tank.

"Hey-" multiple cannons fires near the Japanese man making him yell in fear, jeez she's not letting up! With another roar it ignites its engines and charges towards the Japanese man, Tarma dives out of the way. Kicking up dust it makes a sharp turn, a familiar glow is boiling in its cannon. He has to think of something or else!

"Whoa Whoa Whoa! Slow down! You'd be pretty cute if you weren't so scary!" Di-Cokka halts in its tracks. Tarma's eyes widen in amusement, he wasn't expecting that reaction. "I mean you're already cute," He slowly walks to the tank with his hands up. "killing me would make you look worse, ah?"

Di-Cokka backs up while shaking, clearly, it didn't know whether to shoot Tarma or to take his compliments. It couldn't move as Tarma sat on its bulk.

 _Looks like she doesn't know what to do with me now._ Tarma thought as he pats the tank.

"Now that I got your attention," he started to say "hear me out before you kill me." Di-Cokka stops shaking, looks like it's ready to listen. "You're one of the androids, right? Listen, sweetie, you and your siblings are in danger. We're here to help you but can't if you keep attacking us like a wild animal." Tarma looks at the cannon, assuming that's where her eyes are. "If you truly want help, you'll follow me back to my teammates. If you don't then I'll leave you on your own if that's what you wish."

The Di-Cokka made no sound, the Captain shakes his head as he jumps off it. "The latter is your choice-"

 **"N-no!"**  a radio like voice came from the tank, which made Tarma jump.  **"Please help! I-I'm too scared to be left alone again! Please!"**  It rolls up to him in a panic.  **"I don't know where my siblings are! These guys in green keep trying to attack and kidnap me! Please!Please!Please!Don'tleaveme!"**

Tarma falls on his butt yelping as the tank gets closer each time it speaks. With her panicking this hard he's going to be road kill!

"STOP!" Tarma yelled, the Di-Cokka halts itself shaking. The Japanese man sighs in relief before getting back up.

"Calm down! I wasn't gonna leave you…" Tarma grumbled, making the tank back away again. He takes a deep breath before speaking in a softer tone. "Let's just take you back to my team, ok?" Di-Cokka rolls back to him. He gives it a soft smile as he leads her back to his teammates. She seems quiet, more docile than before, even the way she spoke on the radio gave her personality away.

 _Looks like she was afraid all along_ Tarma thought to himself, the tank rolls closer to Tarma making sure she stayed on his heels. It wasn't long before they got back to his teammates, who upon seeing them lowered their guns.

Marco looks at the Di-Cokka from its bulk to its lower tracks, it doesn't look any different aside its cannon. Two black parts connect to the main cannon, that made it longer then it should be. Marco sighs, with it pointing its cannon at him, made Marco think she's ready to fight again, in reality, he just wants to see her in a normal form.

"You mind showing yourself...?"

**_Click!_ **

Di-Cokka shutters as it begins to assemble itself, it's like watching the Slug Gunner transform in a unique way.

The mechanics that formed the tank is humanizing, tank treads snaps in half, limbs unfolds, taking the treads place, it's skin and clothing appears, with a soft click it's head pops out. Marco glances at the android's real form, she's the same height as Tarma, green eyes, long brown hair, and black rectangular glasses. Her clothing is simple with the color light blue and black on her shirt, skirt, and boots. Marco wastes no time approaching the android to introduce himself.

"I must say, I never saw a robot that can shift into vehicles." He sticks out his hand "Marco Rossi it's a pleasure." The Android shakes his hand in silence. "That man over there that brought you over here is Tarma and my other two teammates Eri and Fio are here too. If I'm wrong, you must be Iria right?"

"Y-yes sir." The Android whispered. Iria clears her throat so the team can hear her clearly. "I'm sorry about earlier, I thought-" Marco raises his hand to dismiss her.

"We'll discuss that later, right now we need to get to safety."

* * *

It's night, the temperature cools down making the team more comfortable. They finally found a spot far from the Rebels, Eri prepares a fire, Tarma sets up two tents for the gang to sleep. Iria volunteers to guard them until morning since she doesn't require sleep. Marco and Fio sits near the android, talking.

"I understand why you attacked us earlier, we know about you and your siblings," Marco said as Iria gives him a depressing look. "I need you to tell you're story, beginning, middle, and end."

Iria takes a deep breath and starts: "Three months ago we left our home to find out a place in the world. But these guys in green uniforms kept trying to capture us. Every day we hide and hide and struggle not to get captured. Every time we did find a hiding spot they would always find us, that's when we started traveling through the air. Three days later, they found us yet again I had to land so everybody can get away, then my oldest brother suggested all four of us separate so that way they will have a tough time trying to get us. We did just that and that's how I ended up here, I attack so that way I could protect myself from those men in green." Iria sighs "I still don't know where my siblings are… It's hard not knowing where your family is."

"I'm sorry Iria," Fio said in a sad tone, rubbing the androids back. "I can't imagine how you feel."

Marco nods before getting out the laptop from the base before. "I found this in your father's lab, including your blueprints." Marco turns it on, showing all the dots.

Iria looks in shock, she never even noticed this before, since she and her siblings were in a hurry to leave. "We're going to get the next android, which is this orange dot, do you know their name?"

"Raymond, he's the oldest out of all of us." Iria narrows her eyes at it. "The dot is moving, I'm pretty sure he's running off somewhere…"

Marco gives the female android a perplex look before he turns the laptop around. She isn't lying, the dot is moving fast! Marco hovers the cursor over the dot, again giving off its coordinates. It didn't say where he is specifically, so Marco looks at the location he's running to.

"Fio radio the helicopter," Marco pulls out the blueprint from Tarma's bag, glancing at it. "looks like your brother is heading to China. I need you to remain with us at all times, we may need your help to convince your brother."

Iria nods, she hopes her the brother won't attack them first...but he's to belligerent.


	5. Raymond

It didn't take long for the helicopter to arrive and pick them up. As they were heading back to base, the higher-ups radio them a message. Apparently, Raymond is causing a lot of destruction, to the point where the Regular Army can't stop him. So, when they found him again, they decided to inform the squad of his whereabouts. Marco's prediction on Raymond's location is correct, now they're heading to the highway area.

During the ride, Iria turns into a walkie-talkie, mainly for safety and security, no one will notice that she's with the PF. Being the sweet man he is, Tarma volunteers to place her in his back pocket just in case. Everyone but Tarma remains silent, wondering what to do next with the current information they have.

"What is something that everyone looks stupid doing? "Tarma snickers, waiting for someone to respond.

"No." Marco says while scratching his nose.

"Well you're n-'

Something pierces though Tarma's words, it wasn't something that the team hears every day. Much less the strangeness of the noise, not even the pilot knows what it is. They look around, not knowing where it came from. Suddenly, a gust surrounds them with such force it might blow them away, they all turn to the back…only to see a gigantic hole. One after another they are sucked into open air, screaming at the sudden change of events. One parachute after another opens, slowing the plumbing soldiers. They see the helicopter spiral and crash against a building, there goes their ride home.

The sound of the helicopter crashing blew out his ears. Marco hears muffling from the distance, sounds like his teammates are ok. It took five minutes for him to be able to see the ground below and for his ears to clear up. Marco lands safely and checks to see if his teammates are still up there.

Without warning, nor a sound, Marco feels a wave of pain on his side and before he knew it, his back is against the 3-ton Utility Truck. The major crumples on the road groaning, he tries to look for the cause. Just for a second, he can see a figure with glowing eyes, Marco groans as he tries to stand up, when he looks up again the figure was gone. He lowers his head as he hears running feet approach him.

"Major you ok!?" Eri grabs one of Marco's arms to help him up.

A pained sound comes out of his lips as he grips his side, no doubt he may have a bruise in the same area. Fio and Tarma came minutes later, reporting what they just saw: an orange blur blazing by them. They did not follow it, instead went to the direction it came from, which lead them here. Suddenly Iria vibrates, alerting the team.

 **"** **Must have been my brother."** Iria's voice came on.  **"He does that every time he sees a potential threat."**

"Destroying helicopters and punching people…what a sweet boy." Eri rolls her eyes.

"Mind giving us a hand when we see him again?' Tarma asked her.

 **"** **I would assist you but…"**  Iria hesitates for a moment before speaking again  **"there's not much I can do other than provide some additional information."**

"I've already read his blueprint." Marco said, "I appreciate it more if you provide us the extra details."

 **"** **Yes sir. Raymond's arm cannon that's capable of ripping vehicles in two.** " Iria explains " **Not only that, he has super speed. Which will be troubling if you're not careful enough. He's highly aggressive and won't care if you're not a threat, he'll try to injure you in every way possible."**

Marco sighs, this isn't good. To him, they had their hands full with Iria, but at least she was easier to come by. With Raymond, they'll deal with him in the same manner, but it sounds like they'll have a hard time. Judging from what Iria just explained, there aren't many options to deal with him.

"Can he be reasoned with?" Marco asks.

" **Apparently not**." Iria sighs.

"So, what you're saying is that he'll attack us? Even if we try to negotiate with him?" Marco raises an eyebrow. This is quite important, they don't want to hurt the guy, but they shouldn't have to give their lives trying to approach him.

Iria did not respond, leaving Marco with only one solution: slow him down. If they can do that without any problems, they'll be able to convince Raymond that they're not a threat.

* * *

**"** **Can we forget about this guy and get someone else? "** Tarma groans over the radio.

"No, we still have to catch him." Marco says firmly while opening a large ammunition box.

 **"** **Really!? I don't know how much more I can take!"** Tarma yells.

They've been chasing Raymond for five hours, the energy they spend fighting him is taking a toll on their bodies. Almost every time they see or catch him, that damned android beats the ever-living hell out of them. It didn't help that their basic weapons have no effect. So, they had to use their special weapons. But each came with their own set of problems;

No luck with the Heavy Machine Gun and Laser. In the HNG case, the ammunition bounces off him. The Laser gun only fires in a straight line, the android dodges that much quicker.

With the Shotgun, they had to get close to him for it to work. That part never went well, the android is way too fast for them. The Rocket Launcher had a small effect by tripping him up, but that's all it would do. Anything else results in the ammo tossed back at them or destroyed by his blaster.

Majority of the weapons they found were also ineffective against Raymond, even the Zantetsu Sword, the most powerful weapon, had no effect on him! Well, there is one they haven't used yet: Thunder Shot. With its usefulness and powerful beam, it'll paralyze Raymond for a few minutes. Marco hopes it'll work, sometimes the beam may not home on a target. Which is why they're in different spots, Tarma upfront, Fio behind Tarma on the left, Eri on the right. Their plain is to wait for Raymond to pass by, create a distraction, then shoot him.

"Fio, I finished putting the weapon together, any sign of him?"

" **Yes, sir but.."**  Fio hesitates to say the last word.

"What's wrong?" Marco asks.

" **He's coming right now!** "

That last sentence came a little too late, a burst of plasma strikes the teams hiding place. The smoke from the impact clouds the area around the team, making them heavily disoriented. It wasn't long before Marco hears his teammates yelling. His eyes water as he runs out in the open, hoping to find or at least see one of his teammates. The voices stop the second he moves closer to their location. Marco curses, praying that they are not unconscious...or worse dead. Suddenly, his face plants on the ground as he's clobbered over and over, each hit harder than the last. He quickly shields his head, hoping no blow falls on either of his valuable parts.

As the beating comes to a halt, the smoke clears, revealing the damaged area once more. A puff of warm air tickles his arm, the androids shadow covers his entire body. Marco hears the Thunder Shot being kicked away from him. Tarma's loud voice and roaring gun reaches both their ears. A frustrated sigh comes out of the android mouth, rather than turn and fight, he simply gets off Marco and makes a run for it.

Marco grits his teeth, they didn't come all this way to lose him now!

Marco rolls over to the gun, snatches it off the ground and opens fire. A bolt of blue lighting rooms past the numerous obstacles, homes in on the android. He must've noticed the bolt because Marco sees him kicking his speed into overdrive. No good. A loud crash echoes through the highway. The team wastes no time running towards the crash, guns drawn and all. Lo and behold, the android is on the ground, paralyzed from the blow he took.

"Halt!" Marco and his teammates aim at him. The android jolts right up only to flop over, moaning in pain. Looks like the Thunder Shot did an excellent job stopping him, now he has nowhere to go. He sees Raymond lifting his head with a challenging look in his eyes. With the last of his strength, he lifts his arm as if to dare them to come closer.

Marco takes a good look at Raymond. He's five inches shorter than Marco, brown hair, orange, and black clothing. What's noticeable is his glowing maroon eyes and a dark red arm cannon.

That's pointing straight at them…

"Easy buddy," Marco starts to say, "you're safe now, I know I want to protect yourself but if you don't calm down we can't help you." As he talks, Marco edges closer to the android lowering his weapon bit by bit. "Your sister is with us as we speak and we have plans to find your other two siblings. I'm not sure were your creator is either, but if we get some sign that he's alive, we'll save him too."

Raymond's eyes stop burning the second the Major mentions his siblings. Breathing heavily, he lowers his blaster.

"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" Marco smiles softly as team lowers their guns. "As I said we have plans to find your other two siblings-."

"Jesus you said that you fuck!" Raymond spat.

Marcos' eyes widen at Raymond rude response. Ok, he hadn't expected that, much less the rudeness of his voice. Marco snaps out of his shock and glares at the disrespectful teen.

"…Who do you think you're talking to…?" An icy tone escapes from the Major's lips.

"Uh…a dude with a bad haircut?" He responds bluntly. "Does your mom know you cut your hair like that?"

Marco drops his Thunder Shot and marches up to him. Since Marco is taller than the robot, intimidating him is the least of his worries. He grabs Raymond's shoulders.

"Now you listen to me young man, I can shoot you with that gun again until you never move." Marco squeezes his shoulders "Unless you want me to do that, you do exactly as I say and show some respect. Do I make myself clear?" that last sentence.

"H-"

"I said, do. I. make. my. self. clear?" Marco gives the robot a threatening look.

No sound comes out of Raymond's mouth, only a petrified face. Marco huffs, turning away from Raymond, giving the signal that it's safe. Tarma is the first to come close, pulling out the second walkie-talkie and placing it on the ground.

"Hey, you can come out now!" He takes a step back.

The talkie vibrates before assembling itself into Iria. Sure enough, with a click, Iria's full form takes its place. The second she sees her elder brother a huge smile breaks across her face.

"Sis?" Raymond stares in shock.

"Big brother!" Iria runs to Raymond with her arms spread wide. She finally meets him with a big hug, whimpering. It took a second for Raymond to hug Iria back, assuring her that he's ok and he's not damaged in the slightest.

"Aww." Fio intertwines her hands together, seeing people reunite is the sweetest thing to her.

Sighing, Marco moves away from the two. He pulls out the laptop and starts booting it up. He types away, making sure that the remaining dots are there. A shadow hovers over his body, annoying him.

"Who's next?" Tarma asks.

Marco turns the device over; a single navy-blue dot shows on the screen. Marco approaches the reunited siblings and shows them this. "Now can one of you tell me who this is?" he asks.

"Nanette." Iria answers, still hugging her brother.

"She's not too far from here. Although it'll take us a little while to get to her location." Marco looks at Iria "Since our ride is destroyed, do you mind if you can shift into a helicopter?"

The young girl nods, after one last squeeze, she lets go of her brother. The other backs away as Iria morphs into the same helicopter that Raymond destroyed before. Finally, she opens the cargo door allowing the team to go inside.

Raymond, however, hesitates to come in, staring as if he's thinking about something important.

"You ok?" Marco puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Eat my shorts!" Raymond folds his arms, snatching his shoulder away from the Major.

 _Ok, I had enough of this…_  Marco thought as he gets up in Raymond's face. "You think I'm amused, young man…?"

"It-"

"GET IN THE COPTER!" Those four words made Raymond scramble inside.

Marco snorts before getting in the helicopter himself. He tells Iria the direction of her sister's location. After putting a quick calculation, Iria closes the door and takes off to the next destination.


	6. Nanette

It took Iria three days to arrive to their destination: Germany. This makes the team wonder how Nanette got there in the first place. In fact, how did they end up in different countries? Well, that small detail doesn’t matter, what matters is to retrieve them one by one and find the creator. When she had the time, Iria gives out some information about Nanette. Apparently, she has a sword but has no idea how to use it properly, leaving her vulnerable. After explaining all of that, Marco finishes the computer he has starts to speak.

“All right, we have two of them so far, there’s two more to go.” Marco stuffs the laptop in his bag “It’s been difficult so far, with the confrontations of both the Rebel Army and the robots themselves.” He says, “If what Gedeon said was true, it’s likely that the Rebel army will be there as well.”

“Does Morden like sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong?” Tarma scowls. “I swear that bastard goes after whatever we go after!”

“Unlikely, they knew about this before we did.” Marco places his hand on his face. “We need to prepare ourselves when we land, chances are Morden is going to send some backup.”

“Backup? Right…” Tarma’s feet takes himself away from the three.

At the corner of their eye, Raymond walks to his left again. He’s been like this since they got on, he never said a word. Nor did he chime in the conversation they just had. It’s like he’s trying to hold his tongue.

Marco gives Raymond a look of concern. “Is something wrong?”

Raymond shakes his head.

An awkward silence follows as no one knows what to say to him. They go back to discussing on how they are going to approach the area, entering, and leaving without the rebels noticing. As they are doing this, Tarma starts to wonder why Iria didn’t land yet. They’ve been up here for god knows how long. He heads up front, wanting to know what she’s is doing.

“We’ve been up here for an hour. What are you doing?” Tarma approaches the cockpit and leans over to get a look.

 **“Sir I’m detecting large activity below me.”** Iria’s voice echoes through the speaker **“Believe it’s the Rebels you were talking about. Trying to find an alternant landing spot.”**

Tarma puts his hand on his face “Alright.” He saunters off, leaving Iria to her own decision. With the information given to him, Tarma tells the team what’s taking her so long. They agree to wait a little longer. Iria apologizes of the inconvenience, she wants the team to be safe. Marco nods and closes his eyes.

Another hour passes and Iria finally finds a landing spot. Far away from the location point. That way they won’t be spotted quickly. The team approaches the window to get a better look of their surroundings. Well, she wasn’t kidding about the activity. Up ahead they see many rebel soldiers outside, some are entering the cave, and others are patrolling the perimeter. Numerous vehicles are going in and out. Thankfully, most of them are the 3-ton Utility Truck. This makes the mission much easier. The team loads up while physically preparing themselves. Marco turns to the siblings.

“Now this might take a while, I don’t want to risk your safety.” Marco said, “I need you two to hide until we recover your sister.”

“Whoa!” Raymond starts “Who-“ 

“Don’t start young man!” Marco glares, daring him to argue “If you even think about coming with us, these rebels will snatch you way, no matter how powerful you are. Unless you want you or your sister kidnaped do as I say and shut it!”

Raymond gives Marco a long look, before turning on his heels and moving away. Iria gives Marco an understanding expression before following her brother.

Eri sighs, it’s obvious that he doesn’t trust them. She feels bad, but orders are orders. Then again, she can’t imagine how he’s feeling. Wondering the earth without their creator, separated and alone. Not only that but being chased by unknown men. Stirs many emotions in a person who entered a world filled with war. Eri makes a vow to find the little sister and bring her back safely.

It seems no one is noticing the surrounding area as they are too busy. The team manages to stay hidden. Slipping through the crowd as if they’re looking for an opening. They were going to go through the main entrance. But with rebels guarding, entering and exiting the cave it’s impossible to go in. The team tries to search for an alternate route. It’s unfortunate that all of the others are either sealed or surrounded by Rebels. Few minutes go by and the team moves near the back. Noticing the absence of activity, they approach the area. Sure enough, there’s an opening that leads inside.

“Listen guys,” Marco starts to say “We need to split up, so we can have an easier chance of finding her here. Now I want all of you to be careful, one of the commanders might be leading this whole operation. Once one of us finds her, radio the others and lead her out. Understood?” The three nods and proceeds inside. 

Eri is the first to split from the team. She heads left, not bothering to see which direction her teammates went to. Since she already knows they’ll meet back up in the same spot they entered there’s no reason to confirm where they went. Thankfully her only objective is to find the android and leave. Since they are in here, she’ll encounter rebels along the way…no matter, she’ll hide from them if they are nearby. With that in mind Eri marches onward. So far there’s nothing but empty tunnels, crates scattered all over, and possibly abandoned trains. In locations like these, it’s usually lively with rebels scrambling to get things done, a commander barking orders, and the sound of men screaming the second a PF soldier fires his or her gun. It’s almost unnatural to see unoccupied areas. No matter…it makes it easier for Eri in the long run. She heads deeper inside hoping to find any signs of life.

“Again!?” a loud voice made Eri retreat. No doubt that voice is a rebel soldier. Taking a breath, she pokes her head out. Two rebels appear to be having a conversation. With one standing and the other playing his Gameboy. “This is the third time we lost it!”

“Oi let’s not be too hasty.” The second soldier raises an eyebrow. “We have plenty of time.”

“P-!? Didn’t you heard what the boss said!? We have TWO more days to find IT!” The rapid tapping of his foot echoes through the cave.

“Okay, Okay,” He shifts his eyes away from the handheld. “Jeez, be happy that it can’t defend itself. “

“Yes it can’t defend itself, BUT it hides way too much!” The first soldier snorts “Can’t even find it… freaking bull…!”

Now knowing what to do, Eri immediately slips away. She decides to use this information and figure out the possible hiding spots. First, holes, crates, and small enclosed spaces. If Nanette is small enough, she may hide in them until the rebel soldiers give up. But again, these spots are obvious and are not the ideal places for hiding. Behind and inside trains is another possibility, since they are big enough for her to conceal herself in. However, these soldiers will inspect trains from top to bottom. If they ever find her, she’ll be captured on the spot. Then there’s the network of paths the rebels made, if Nanette is smart, she’ll be able to evade them by running fast enough and entering different caverns. Of course, this means that Eri must figure out which direction she could have gone.

Eri sighs “She could have done any of those. Either way it’ll still a pain.”

She marches forward, concealing herself every time she hears voices nearby. The rebels are spread so thinly, she can understand why but…is it necessary? Oh well, it makes her job much easier, better than running guns blazing. As a bonus, she’ll have an easier time sneaking without her teammates. Eri peaks in the corner and finds rebel soldiers lounging around. There’s not much, especially since no one is bossing them around. Maybe they aren’t concerned about making any progress?

Loud pops echo through the caverns and what follows is men shouting. Eri wonders if they spotted one of her teammates. Those same voices get closer and closer, forcing her to hide again. Gunshots ring out once more, except this time Eri hears the bullets zipping through the air. A blur zooms by Eri’s hiding place, it took her a second to notice its surprisingly small stature. A bat? Maybe a small person? Whatever that was it slid in a nearby pipe.

“GOD DAMN IT!” a voice screams “We ALMOST HAD IT!”

Eri looks over and sees five rebel soldiers gasping for air. One looks to be the leader, is slamming his gun against the ground. The other four looks as if they wanted to say something. But their current condition, they couldn’t open their mouth. One of them tries, only a painful wheeze spills out of his throat. After a few seconds, he manages to struggle a few words.

“Now…what?” one strains to say. “Do…we…telltheothers!?”

“Split up…”

“But-!”

“I don’t care! Split up! I’ll be damned if we lose it again!” With that footsteps are heard scurrying in different directions.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they tried to nab. Eri immediately follows one of them, hoping that once he leads her to Nanette, she’ll snatch her first. There’s no consequence for the robot being harmed, so Eri won’t make any risky decisions. But again, she might scare her away if she shoots him. She snaps back to her senses; the rebel ran in another tunnel. Eri groans, she just lost him for good. Now what?

A loud thud made Eri jump, who fell and broke their back? As if to answer her question, a small shadow appears over her large body. She decides to sneak over, once she sees the android, she’ll yank her to safety. The second Eri scooches closer, it scurries away, prompting Eri to take off after it. She didn’t come all this way to lose it now! Between darting back and forth, moving from one path to the next, and jumping from one obstacle to the next, Eri has no trouble keeping up with it. It’s quick but not enough to get away from her.

This kept going for a good few minutes before the shadow became still and larger as she approaches. Not wanting to spook the person, Eri hides in a nearby corner. The way it ran…no doubt it’s Nanette, considering that she’s the one that one rebel was chasing after. She peeks her head out to see if she’s right. Lo and behold, the android is leaning against a rock, trying to figure out where to go next.

The blonde wastes no time whistling to catch her attention. The android’s eyes widen, it’ seems that she didn’t know where the sound came from. Eri sticks her hand out and beckons the little android to her direction. Instantly, she hears feet hitting the floor. The running ceased the second it’s in front of the Sergeant.

Eri looks down, there she sees the little girl looking at her. She’s up to Eri’s leg, blonde hair with a big cowlick, aqua eyes, and clothing splash with navy blue and black. Eri looks behind the girl and sees a scatterboard on her back. No doubt it’s holding her sword.

“I’m pretty sure you have a bunch of questions,” Eri says. “But now is not the time to be asking any. If you must know I’m Eri, I’m here to take you to your brother and sister. Don’t worry we’re looking for the other one as we speak.” She sighs “However, you four will be in our custody until we find your creator, dead or alive. Do you understand?” Eri glances at the android waiting for her response.

Nanette stares at the woman for a second before nodding. Satisfied that she doesn’t have to persuade or fight her, Eri walks ahead with Nanette following. Eri removes her talkie to inform her teammates.

“Guys?” Static. Eri hits the talkie, hoping someone will respond. “

Hello?!” Eri hits the talkie again “Great… looks like we have to find a way out on our own.” She turns to the android “Do you know how to use the sword?”

“No.” Nanette says.

“Well…” Eri crouches down to Nanette’s level “Hop on, I can’t afford to lose you.” There is a moment before Eri feels a slight heaviness on her back. Not wasting any time, she raises and, with Nanette in tow, she jogs. The little girl is surprisingly light, Eri thought she’d be heavier since she’s made from the strongest metal. Perhaps her creator was cautious enough to make her lighter. If so, then that explains why she’s nimble little thing. No matter, it makes it ten times easier than if she was heavier. Jogging further out the cavern, Nanette’s grip on Eri increases, causing the woman to pick up the pace.

It wasn’t long before the two arrives at another open mouth surrounded by crates and one decommissioned train, fresh from the tracks. Eri smiles for a moment then replaces it with a heavy scowl. Four rebel soldiers, lounging around, near the mouth. Two are standing on each side. One is sprawled on the ground. The last one is playing on his Gameboy. It’s faint but Eri can hear dozens of voices on the other side. This would be a piece of cake, if there are fewer soldiers to deal with, even if she tries to shoot them, others may hear the commotion and rush in. She hides behind a crate and puts Nannette down.

The only thing she can try to do is cause a distraction. Not loud enough to bring the others in, just enough to lure them away. She gazes at her backside than to her hand: only three grenades and a pistol. No special weapons or a crate filled with ammo nearby. Already her options are limited. What can she use first? Grenade? No, far too noisy and destructive. Shooting her gun in the air? No, the sound alone will draw them near there hiding place. A mix of both? Yeah right, it’ll give her away so fast that no soldier will think twice. Eri rubs her eyes, this is going to be harder than she thought.

While she’s distracted, Nannette grabs a grenade. As if it were a toy, she swings it around. She notices the pin below it’s square, she’s never seen this kind of pin before. She pulls the pin, hoping something will happen afterward. Nothing, Nanette grunts in disappointment. She casually tosses it behind her, not caring where it landed…

A loud explosion, high pitched screams, and a gust of wind kicks Eri’s senses on high alert. She turns to the source. The train, which was sitting peacefully before, is now the color of red, orange, and grey. The Rebels scrambles to put out the roaring flames, a couple of the enders in with fresh buckets of water. Seeing this opportunity, Eri snatches the robot and books it. Not caring who sees her as they are distracted. A few soldiers’ bumps into her, running the opposite direction, not even glancing at the intruder and the thing they are searching for. What seemed like forever, they finally got out of the stampede. Eri can only watch as numerous soldiers runs in to assist.

Turning from the chaos, Eri makes the trek back to the drop point. She feels a sense of accomplishment, completing this mission is nothing compared to the others. Retreating an android without getting caught? Success! They arrive but the emptiness causes her to scowl. Maybe they are a little further out? Eri continues onwards, getting further and further away from the original spot. She doesn’t see anyone yet. Where could they be? As if to answer her question, three shapes appear in the distance. With a small smile, Eri approaches the group with a look that says all. Marco returns her look with a soft expression.

“You’re late.” Marco says

“Sorry,” Eri puts Nanette down “connection wasn’t all that great. I didn’t know where we were meeting up.”

“I’m just glad you made it out.” Marco smiles at Eri. “So…is this the other robot?” Marco glances at the little Android. 

“Yes,” Eri sighs “I found her just in time, she was difficult to get. Thank god the Rebels never got her.”

“Awwwwww she’s cute~!!” Fio starts gushing over Nanette’s small appearance “Hiiiii~!”

“Fio no…” Eri facepalms, hoping that one of the siblings will notice her first before Fio starts pinching Nanette's cheeks.

Right on cue, Iria and Raymond bolts over to their little sister and hug her tightly. Saying that they are glad she's in one peace. This warms the team and they have a feeling that once they get the last two, they’ll be a family again. Well, one…if their creator isn’t alive, which they hope he isn’t. Marco approaches the three, mainly to ask Iria about her other brother.

“What’s your other brother’s name?” Marco asks.

“Alex… do you know where he is?” Iria gives him the look of concern.

“Yes". Marco gives her a small smile. That expression is enough to tell her a thousand words. She goes back to hugging her brother and sister.

Marco walks back to his teammates, giving the three space “Ok so last time I checked Alex is in France. We need to head over there now.”

“No, we don’t.” Tarma suddenly says.

“What?”

“He’s not there.”

"Yes, he is.” Marco raises an eyebrow.

“No. He’s not.” Tarma raises his eyebrow back at Marco.

“That’s odd,” Marco scratches his head, “I thought he was in France.”

“Not anymore.” Tarma turns the screen over. The dot is there nothing unusual. Tarma hovers over it, now Marco understand: The coordinates are not showing! In utter confusion, he swipes the laptop and types in code. Nothing.

“I sent a message to the higher-ups about 45 minutes ago.” Tarma sighs “No response.”

Just as Tarma finished his sentence. A small ding alerts the major:

**1 New Message**

With a few taps, Marco is now able to see what it contains. The message makes Marco sweat. Apparently, they are having a hard time tracking the last robot down. He’s moving from one place to another and now they can’t pinpoint his exact location. It’ll be a while before they can find him and report back. Till then, Marco and his team must guess where he might be before they lose him for good. This is just great, the computer can’t determine where he is either, none of the remaining androids know, and it’s impossible to guess correctly. Marco rubs his eyes. _“I hope they find him soon.”_ He thought _“Otherwise we’ll be traveling for months…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good lord, this went on longer than it should have. Ah well, I have two more chapters to go then I'm finished. Sorry for the wait :(


End file.
